In search of your ancestors

Surnames, physical traits and town or village names can be vital clues when searching for your roots.

Hundreds of thousands of people take part in genealogy or ancestral tourism each year, across the globe. The idea is to visit sites that have a connection to our ancestors, seeking out where our families or surnames came from.

Going back to our roots, to the towns and villages whose culture, language and professions were so familiar to our ancestors, is an opportunity to understand who we truly are. One of the best ways to reconstruct our history is to walk the same streets as our parents, grandparents and ancestors once did, helping us to build up a picture of their identity.

With Galeota Tourism discovering your past will be the adventure of a lifetime, as you get to know the villages of your ancestors, your great-grandparents’ house, the everyday surrounding of your forebears and people who share your surname and newly-discovered family stories.

Every family line has its own distinct set of professions, traditions and ways of life. This is our modus operandi: first we carry out thorough research into the family’s history, discovering and locating sites related to the client’s ancestors, then we prepare an exclusive, personal trip, adapted to personal preferences and tastes, to help you rediscover the most important places in your family history.

What do we offer?

• Rigorous, professional research, in which all data and facts are documented.
• Personalised research into the ancestors in question: the places in which they lived and everything it’s possible to discover about them.
• A short getaway or a tailor-made trip, according to your preferences.
• A personalised guide, available to travel to wherever your roots take us.
• A complete dossier of information on your family history.
• And unforgettable memories of a unique experience..

We will take care of everything: after you provide us with some basic information, we will carry out all the research. Once this stage is complete, we will organise a trip including everything you need: accommodation, visits, a personalised guide, delicious meals… We’ve thought of everything to help you discover the land of your ancestors.

An example: La Carlota and the German settlers of King Charles III

In 1767, six thousand Central Europeans came to repopulate the lands along the royal highway which linked Madrid to Andalusia. King Charles III of Spain promoted this initiative to safeguard land that was under threat from bandits and in need of development.

To attract these settlers, the king issued the Charter of the New Settlements of Andalusia, offering them a multitude of benefits, and Spain carried out a promotional campaign that modern-day marketers would be proud of.

La Carlota was a product of this migration, the town in Córdoba province having been founded by around 1,600 settlers, as were others like: La Carolina, Montizón, Arquillos, Guarromán, Aldeaquemada and Santa Elena, in Jaén province; Fuente Palmera in Córdoba province; Campillos in Málaga province, as well as Cañada Rosal and La Luisiana in the province of Seville.

That’s why visitors who take a walk through these towns notice a significant number of people with blonde hair and blue eyes, and surnames like Reiffs, Hamer, Clat (from Claude), Chofle (from Schöffer), Chips (from Schúpp), Hens, Ots, Tot, Wals, Wic, Hermán, etc.

This heritage is also reflected in traditions such as painting boiled eggs in bright colours and displaying them in crocheted bags on Easter Sunday: a tradition of Swiss origin. Other towns, such as Herrería and Fuente Carreteros (Córdoba province), still commemorate the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28th December) with the ‘Dance of the Madmen’ and the ‘Dance of the Bear’, which both originated in the Tyrolean Alps.